The Leopold Canal ( or ''Leopoldvaart'', ) is a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...
in northern
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
. Construction occurred between 1847 and 1850 after the Belgian government granted permission in 1846. It runs about westward from
Boekhoute
Assenede () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Assenede proper, , Boekhoute and Oosteeklo. On 1 January 2021, Assenede had a total population of 14,369. The total area is ...
to
Heist-aan-Zee just south of the Dutch border. It is between deep. The canal was proposed by Canon , local member of the
Belgian National Congress
The National Congress (french: Congrès national, nl, Nationaal Congres) was a temporary legislative assembly in Belgium, convened in 1830 in the aftermath of the Belgian Revolution. Its purpose was to devise a national constitution for the ne ...
, to prevent the
Dutch from blocking the discharge of water and inundating the
Meetjesland after Belgium's
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...
from the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
This canal was a major line of
German resistance during the
Battle of the Scheldt in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
See also
*
Ghent–Terneuzen Canal
*
Braakman
The Braakman was a large tidal inlet in the middle of the Dutch region of Zeelandic Flanders, on the south bank of the Westerschelde west of Terneuzen.
It was created by a succession of storm surges in the 14th and 15th centuries, including the St ...
External links
Canals in Flanders
Canals in West Flanders
Assenede
Knokke-Heist
Canals opened in 1850
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